Missouri River basin & Mississippi River basin newsletters released
The Missouri River basin report card workshop newsletter was published in September. Potential indicators for an assessment of management goals for the Mississippi River were determined at two workshops within the Missouri River basin. The first workshop was held in Rapid City, South Dakota in May, and a second workshop was held in Kansas City, Missouri in August. This is the fifth in a series of newsletters that will document progress toward completing the report card through stakeholder meetings in all five basins of the Mississippi River watershed. The final list of indicators will be determined by several factors, including data availability and how well they represent achievement of management goals. Results from each basin will be refined and integrated into a report card for the entire Mississippi River Watershed. The Mississippi River Basin report card workshop newsletter was published in September. The America's Watershed Initiative concluded the series of workshops in the five basins with a meeting in Arlington, Virginia in June to discuss the integration of basin results into the overall watershed results. The meeting also addressed issues that are applicable at the scale of the entire watershed but that were not evident from the basin workshops. This meeting built on the results of the workshops held in each of the basins in the watershed over the previous year.
IAN 'Down Under': Darwin-IAN collaboration, USAUS-H2O virtual environmental partnership and Riversymposium 2014
Heath Kelsey, Simon Costanzo, Jane Thomas, Bill Dennison, and Judy O'Neil traveled to Darwin, Canberra, and Brisbane, Australia in September to initiate the Darwin–IAN collaboration with Charles Darwin University, hold a teacher workshop for Phase 2 of the USAUS–H2O virtual environmental partnership at the Australian National University in Canberra, and attend the 17th Annual International Riversymposium at the National Convention Centre in Canberra. The USAUS–H2O teacher workshop included teachers from each of Australia's six states and two territories. Heath, Simon, and Judy presented electronic posters and Jane Thomas and Bill Dennison gave presentations at the Riversymposium. Heath Kelsey traveled to Darwin to set up an extended stay in 2015.
Willamette River report card stakeholder workshop
IAN, in collaboration with the Meyer Memorial Trust, held the first stakeholder workshop to develop the Willamette River Report Card. The first day of the workshop included a tour to visit key locations along the Willamette River, such as the Delta Ponds in Eugene, Berggren Demonstration Farm, Lookout Point Dam & Reservoir, and the Willamette Confluence Project. The 187-mile long Willamette River is located entirely in Oregon and is a major tributary of the Columbia River. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the Willamette River basin contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state's largest city, Portland, positioned near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Heath Kelsey, Tracey Saxby, and Simon Costanzo conducted the workshop with eminent scientists and stakeholders associated with the management and use of the Willamette River and its watershed. It is anticipated that the report card will be released in spring 2015.
IAN welcomes Nicole Lehmer
Nicole Lehmer grew up in Southern California and transferred during her sophomore year to Salisbury University where she majored in political science with a minor in environmental studies. Before joining UMCES, she interned with the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. Her background includes data analysis for water quality monitoring, educating and informing the community about environmental concerns of Chesapeake Bay, assisting with land management, designing legislative support letters, and completing grant proposals. She also spent a few months interning for the National Park Service at Assateague Island National Seashore. In addition to her studies and internships, she volunteered for a State Senate re-election campaign as a way to become better acquainted with the local political environment. Furthermore, Nicole enjoys being outdoors, exploring the National and State parks in the area, kayaking, baking, taking photos, and finding new routes to avoid traffic on 270. Since being at IAN, Nicole has attended the Policy Committee Meeting with Bill Dennison, helped with the Missouri River Basin report card workshop newsletter, and populated content on the Chesapeake Bay Story website. In the future, she hopes to write environmental policies for the state of Maryland and looks forward to expanding her knowledge while at UMCES.